Paul Davis Poster | King Lear | Vintage Posters

King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between his daughters Goneril and Regan, who pay homage to gain favour, feigning love. The King’s third daughter, Cordelia, is offered a third of his kingdom also, but refuses to be insincere in her praise and affection. She instead offers the respect of a daughter and is disowned by Lear who seeks flattery. Regan and Goneril subsequently break promises to host Lear and his entourage, so he opts to become homeless and destitute, goes insane, and the French King married to Cordelia invades Britain to restore order and Lear’s rule. In a subplot, Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester, betrays his brother and father. Tragically, Lear, Cordelia and several other main characters die. This poster is from the 1983 film starring Laurence Olivier. The poster artist Paul Brook Davis, better known as Paul Davis, was born in 1938 in Centrahoma, Oklahoma. Davis won a scholarship to the School of Visual Arts and at the age of 17 moved to New York. There, he studied with outstanding illustrators Philip Hays and Robert Weaver, and graphic designer and artist George Tscherny. While still a student, Davis produced his first commissioned illustration, a pencil drawing that appeared in the October 1959 issue of Playboy magazine. After finishing his courses at School of Visual Arts, he was hired by Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast, partners in the groundbreaking Push Pin Studios. In 1968, Davis was invited by Galerie Delpire in Paris, France, to have his first solo exhibition of paintings, and in 1977, Gilles deBure, curator of the Galerie d’Actualité in the Centre Georges Pompidou, presented a solo exhibition of Davis’s work as part of the museum’s opening festivities. Davis’s distinctive paintings and posters for advertising, publishing and entertainment also have been the subject of museum and gallery exhibitions throughout Japan and Italy, and in cities around the U.S., including a retrospective at the Philbrook Museum of Art in his native Tulsa. Davis’s work is included in collections throughout the world, and poster collection of MoMa in New York. In 1987, The Drama Desk created a special award^[2] to recognize Davis’s iconic posters for Joseph Papp‘s Public Theater, and he is in the Hall of Fame of both the Art Directors Club and the Society of Illustrators. He is also a recipient of the coveted AIGA Medal, and of honorary doctorates from School of Visual Arts and the Maryland Institute College of Art. He is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and a vice-president of their Society of Fellows.